JD(S) won’t play kingmaker, will be king in this election: HD Kumaraswamy

With several opinion polls predicting a hung assembly in Karnataka, JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy is back in focus as he is expected to emerge the kingmaker if the surveys turn out to be true. In an interview with The Times of India, Kumaraswamy, however, dismissed such assessments, saying his party will no longer play the kingmaker’s role, but would rather be the king itself as it’ll get a simple majority on its own and form the next government. Excerpts:

Recent opinion polls have predicted 40-45 seats for your party. Are you convinced?
The opinion polls are not as reliable as the exit polls. While the accuracy of exit polls is 95%, that of opinion polls is just about 20-30%. Moreover, two of the opinion polls were done in early April and things have changed drastically since then, especially after the parties finalized their candidates. I am still confident of reaching the 113-mark as we were first to announce candidates from 126 constituencies.


What makes you feel so confident?
BJP national president Amit Shah’s strategy has completely fallen flat in Karnataka and PM Narendra Modi is no more showing any keen interest in campaigning in the state, suggesting that his magic too is on the wane, especially after his speeches on corruption failed to create any narrative. The Congress has already reached the fourth stage of cancer and seems to be stronger only on paper and opinion polls. Only CM Siddaramaiah is putting up a lone fight. With no real issues on their side, both national parties are playing caste politics to the hilt; they finally tripped in naming candidates. These things have turned into an advantage for the JD(S).

The JD(S) appeared much more distressed than B S Yeddyurappa himself when the BJP decided not to field B Y Vijayendra from Varuna...
The decision not to field Vijayendra from Varuna will surely hurt the BJP’s prospects across the state. There is widespread anger in the Lingayat community against the BJP over denial of ticket to Vijayendra at the last minute only because he is Yeddyurappa’s son.

To what extent has the rebellion in Congress and BJP helped the JD(S)?
Initially, I was only hoping to get about 10-12 seats in North Karnataka, but now I am confident the party will bag more with the entry of prominent leaders like Revunaik Belamagi, S K Bellubbi and Prakash Khandre, among others. In Bengaluru too, I was expecting only two seats, but now I am sure of getting 8-10 seats.

How is chief minister Siddaramaiah positioned as of now in Chamundeshwari and Badami?
Mark my words, we will win both seats. In Chamundeshwari, G T Devegowda is certain to win and that was the reason Siddaramaiah chose to contest from Badami. Though the media is now projecting the Badami fight as one between Siddaramaiah and Sreeramulu, both are certain to lose as they are outsiders. Our candidate Hanmanth Mavinmarad, a local, has an advantage as he has been actively working in the constituency for the past two years and has a personal rapport with voters.